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Since the Terran Hegemony introduced it in 2510, the Chameleon has been the premiere training BattleMech for light- and medium-BattleMech Mechwarriors. In fact, with its role away from the battlefield (except in the most desperate of circumstances), the Chameleon has suffered relatively little attrition. Combined with its continuous production on Hesperus II, the Chameleon is one of the most common BattleMechs. Even in the 31st century, the Chameleon is widely used at academies and training cadres throughout the Inner Sphere.[6][1]

The Chameleon was designed to help a new MechWarrior master the skills of maneuvering and heat management, with a top speed of 97.2 kph and a jumping distance of one hundred and eighty meters. The 'Mech also had an almost all energy weapons loadout, but cooled only by ten standard heat sinks. This paucity of freezers forces MechWarriors to concentrate on the 'Mech's heat levels. In some instances, the Chameleon had been forced into combat situations, notably during the Dragoon Civil War.[7][6][1]

The Chameleon carried a basic arsenal that allowed a MechWarrior-in-training to learn the skill of heat management. The 'Mech's reliable low-tech arsenal had proven effective when forced into combat. The primary weapon was a Cyclops Eye Large Laser. This was backed up by two Intek Medium Lasers and a trio of Defiance B3S Small Lasers. To make the threat of overheating more real to the new MechWarrior, the 'Mech carried two Scatter Gun Light Machine Guns that can be used for anti-infantry training.[6][1]

(also referred to as the CHM-3 Chameleon Training Scout) A formerly common but now obscure training 'Mech, the TRC-4B was armed with one Large Laser, two Medium Lasers, four Small Lasers and two Machine Guns. With only 10 normal heat sinks this 'Mech was quite prone to overheating. As manufactured, this 'Mech is perhaps the only Level 1 official (if not canonical) design with 3 critical spaces of equipment installed in the center torso, (two Machine Guns and half a ton of ammo), in violation of the design rules released with it. Additionally, as released, a quarter ton of armor remained unallocated. BV (1.0) = 811, BV (2.0) = ?[8]

CLN-4V

The 4V variant used by the Star League only carried six tons of armor. Heat management was even more of a chore because in addition to the standard weapon load the Chameleon 4V carried an additional Small Laser, but didn't increase the number of heat sinks. BV (2.0) = 999[9]

Another combat variant of the Chameleon, the 7Z carried as its primary weapons two Large Lasers and a single ER Large Laser. The 7Z carried no other secondary weapons on its chassis and used twelve double heat sinks to handle its massive heat load. BV (1.0) = 1,283[12], BV (2.0) = 1,527[13]